busy days, Easter, and inappropriate laughter

I feel like we've been really busy, but with not much to show for it. 

We hosted potluck at our house at the beginning of  March. I made pork loin for the first time.  It turned out well and wasn't too dry :)

I finally put our chairs back together. 

I really like them with our table. 

I brought these inside and they started blooming. 

On the 15th,  Nathan's nephew, Isaiah, celebrated his first birthday.  We went out to Camp Grove for supper and for the party. 

Isaiah quickly learned what his cake was. 

There wasn't much left.

St. Patrick's day fell in the middle of the week again. Which meant that the parade shut down our part of the city.  They block off all of the roads surrounding our building at work, so we are pretty much stuck, and forced to watch the parade.  ;)

I took a picture of the bag pipers, of course. 

Palm Sunday,  the Sunday school did their Easter Program.  I, a less then thrilled teacher, got to lead my lovely children in song.  I'm telling you. It is exhausting trying to get them to stand still, stay in line, watch the person in front of you so you aren't looking at the ceiling when they start walking,  pay attention to the teachers so you start singing together, watch what I'm saying so you say/sing the right words, put your dress down,  sit still, get off the floor, stop touching him, look where you are going.... ayiyiyi...  I think this is the reason people don't give birth in litters. 

One of the lovely students was doing something very obnoxious and I laughed. Well of course that dear child thought he would do it again and again....

I have the unfortunate characteristic of laughing at the most inappropriate times. It seems, the more inappropriate the time, the more funny I find it. 

And, then there is communion.  We had communion in Washington, the Saturday before Palm Sunday.  I have gotten better over the years at preparing myself for communion. And, I mean preparing myself NOT to laugh.  Here are reasons I could have laughed:

1. A sea full of men in fresh white shirts about to drink from a glass of very red wine passed to them from the person beside them. Oh the stains that could happen!

2. The slurping, glugging, sipping noises echoing across the somber silence of the church. 

3. The wave of coughs following the wine glass.

4. The number of times you hear the elder or minister refill the men's side goblet v.s. the women's side.

5. The sudden shock, and gag reflex, I feel when I take a sip. The expression I know just shot across my face.   I don't like wine. I don't like grape.  I don't like alcohol. I know it's just a sip. But, every year...ugh. :)

6. The bread. It's cut into long, unnatural tubes.  

7.  The bread sticks to your teeth and the back of your throat. You feel like you have to pry it off with your tongue. All very irreverent. But, you can't help it.

8. The sound of coughing and gagging and such that follows. 

I know. I'm supposed to be thinking about how Christ's body was broken for me. How he poured out his life for me. How he suffered in agony for my sins. How wonderful and amazing, how horrible and beautiful, God's plan was.  You're supposed to let the depth sink in, feel the communion with Christ and your fellow Christians. 
But, me. Nope. It's quiet, it's somber, and it is ever so awkward...and every little detail, every sound, it's funny.  More funny than any joke.   The irony of the awkward humaness next to such a holy and perfect thing we are commemorating.  I've gotten better over the years, but I still stiffle my giggles and try not to notice how much some people seem to enjoy that wine. 

The other evening, Matt and Lena kindly allowed us to come over and play games.  I got to 'help' give Jack a bath.

Isn't he the cutest baby ever?

I had Friday off work, so Jenny invited me to come over and color eggs with her. The girls joined in. ;)

Emmy was enthusiastic as usual.

Cecily checking her blue egg.

Emmy got bored pretty quick. So, Jenny gave her a cup of water and a plastic egg. 

they're so springy!

I played with the girls on the swings for a bit. 

It was fun.

Easter snuck up on me.  I was not prepared.  It seemed way to early this year.   Or, maybe I just need to look more than one day ahead on the calendar. 

We spent Easter with Nathan's family.  Tim and Becky hosted in Eureka, so we didn't have to go far. That was nice.  We had a good evening and ate too much food. :)

The Sunday School Easter program's theme was: Alive.    And it did stick with me through Easter. He is alive.  Though, I may never feel the same joy the disciples did (I never thought he was dead) there is an inexplicable joy in that. He is alive.  

"...Why seek ye the living among the dead?" ~ Luke 24:5

In Christ
~Michelle

Potlucks and birthdays

So, yeah, it's been a while...



We've been busy with the usual.


At the end of February we celebrated Grandpa's 91st birthday with an evening at the condos and a taffy pull.

My parents were in Florida so, I sent them this picture to make them feel jealous. :)

The taffy pullers

Kirk and Troy taking over from their dads.

We've been spending a lot of evenings going to potlucks.  We've been to three in the last two weeks and have two more to go.




The 29th, my high school friends got together for a mini baby shower.  Emily had Jase only a few days before! Katie brought little Saylor. And, Haley is due sometime in the summer (I'm terrible with remembering due dates). 

The new baby's Jase and Saylor.

All together again.

We graduated almost 7 years ago and we still get together at least once a year.  Our topics of conversation have changed over the years. As can be expected, motherhood has quickly taken over as the number one conversation topic.  :) 





My Sunday school class and the other young grades sang at our hymn sing a couple weeks back.  I think it provided more entertainment then anything. :) Five year olds aren't exactly the most refined. I was supposed to help lead them, but I think I spent most of the time stifling laughter.


This past Sunday we went over to the farm in the evening and celebrated mom's 60th birthday. I made cake.  A couple Christmas's ago I got a cake decorating kit from Nathan's aunts. I decided it was a good time to try.

I think I did pretty good for a first try.

The girls had fun playing with Jake's old light saber.

and dad got in on the fun.



I am ready for spring.  I spend my free time at work looking up gardening stuff.  I think I'd like to build a raised garden. I think it would look nicer for town.    I can't wait until I can do some flower shopping and work on my landscaping. In general, I just can't wait to be outside.

Our bulbs are almost blooming already.

Our March and April are almost already booked. So, I'm not sure when I'm going to get time to actually do any of my spring projects. 

In Christ

~Michelle

Valentine's day and Florida

Nathan and I went to Florida over Valentine's Day and his birthday (which happen to be the same day) so, we decided to celebrate both early.  We chose the 9th at random.     Things didn't really go as planned that day. I picked up Buffalo Wild Wings for supper and realized once I got home, that they had given me someone else's order.  I had ordered a cake for Nathan from the lady who made our wedding cake, and I got there too late and she wasn't there. 

So, after supper, I stuck a candle in a Little Debbie fancy cake. 

Happy Birthday Nathan... lol

Later that evening we got the real cake. :)

Nathan did good for Valentine's.  I may have hinted that Kroger had chocolate and flowers, but hey, I like them anyway.

:)

I didn't get to enjoy them very long because on Thursday, we packed up and left for Florida after work.  Three of Nathan's siblings, Steven, Josh, and Anna, came with us. The van was loaded down with blankets, pillows, luggage, books, candy, and the suchlike.   We drove through the night and made pretty good time.  We made it to Elda, Vera, and Mary's (Nathan's three aunts) house by 1:00 and spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool.

:) much needed sunshine

Steven and Josh quickly began lizard hunting.

Steven caught a green one...

supposedly they are rare...?

Feet.

The water was a little cold, so we mostly enjoyed the sun.  I pulled out my coloring book.

It's so pretty. 

planning Ticket to Ride in the evening.

Saturday was my favorite day.  We headed out to the beach early and spent most of the day there. 

blue and sand...

Siesta Key Beach

Nathan and I built a sand castle.

The back.

Notice the door leading to the keep.

The front.

Check out my awesome bridge. 

I thought it was a pretty cool castle, but I guess it impressed a lot of people.   People commented as the walked by and multiple times through the day they'd stop and take pictures of it.

Steven, Anna, and Josh dug a big hole.

 The little boy on the left showed up and helped.  Once they were done, many children enjoyed the hole the rest of the day. 

Anna's creation.

We went out to eat at Der Dutchmen for supper.  It's an Amish run buffet restaurant. They serve typical meat, potatoes, and veggies. I've been there before when I've been in Sarasota, and I'm not impressed.  But, it seems to be a favorite amongst the older crowd. 

Sunday, we went to church in Sarasota.  And got a nice picture of all of us.

Mary, Josh, Steven, Elda, Anna, Vera, Me, and Nathan

After church the aunts took us out for ice cream and gave us valentine's chocolates and sang happy birthday to Nathan.

We went to the surf and racket resort on Siesta Beach. We had met a couple in church who gave us their room number so that we could get in. 

pool and palm trees

We stayed on the beach late enough to watch the sun set.

a terrible attempt at a sunset selfie.

Monday,  we slept in, packed up and headed out to Legoland.  It was grey and threatening to rain all day so it wasn't horrible to be away from the beach. 

Nathan and his siblings

Me and Nathan

Legoland is basically a Lego themed amusement park for kids.  There were roller coasters, shops, Lego minitures, and overpriced food.  The roller coasters were geared towards kids and were much smaller and slower than some you'd find at Six Flags.  Legoland is built on what used to be Cyprus Gardens, so some of the gardens were left, which was cool. 

completely made of Lego

The world

Inside the gardens

An awesome tree

I would like to plant one of these trees in our yard.

the lady to the right is made of Legos

Flowers:)

The gardens were my favorite part.  The mini area was pretty cool though too.

Lego Washington

Lego city

San Francisco, I believe.

Golden Gate Bridge

Pirate ships and a port city

this pirate ship was awesome.

Star Wars

Darth somebody... 

We went on a few rides, but not many.  Steven was mainly there for the Lego's and Josh and Anna were a little nervous. 

I didn't get a very good picture. But, Nathan, Steven, Josh, and Anna are on this one. 

Anna and I went on a water ride.  It was near the end of the day a pretty cold, so we were the only two on our boat.  The boats wind there way, back and forth, through waterfalls and sprayers while people on the outside shoot water guns at you.  We got completely soaked. 

The water ride.

You can't really tell but we are wet from head to foot. 

They had these super cool things:

These are human sized dryers. (picture from google)

  They blow hot air and have bright lights that warm and dry you really quick.

We were still damp, despite the dryers, but we managed to survive the rest of the day. 

Anna with life size lego-ed lego girls. 

And then...the highlight of the day...for the guys that is.

Pick a brick wall.

you can fill a cup with any kind or color of lego bricks your heart desires. 

We left Legoland about 5 minutes before it closed. I was pretty ready to be done.  It was cool, but not my favorite day. 

We drove to Tampa for supper and ate at Carrabba's.  It's one of my favorite restaurants. :) 

mmm.

We left Carrabba's and headed home.  It was a short trip and, not exactly my ideal trip. but it was fun all the same.  I got to know Nathan's aunts much better and spend time with his siblings. Which, doesn't happen much with our busy lives.   The aunts are quite hilarious.  I don't even know how to begin to explain...:)  And, the weather and the beach is just so much better than here. 

We made it home by 4:30 pm on Tuesday. Complete with a bottle of lizards that Steven had captured. :) We survived but 18 hours of driving is a long time. 

In Christ

~Michelle